Archive for April, 2008
Bluetooth headset for both mobile phone and iPod
Apr 29th
With the new JayBird Bluetooth Stereo Headset (130 bones) you can control both your phone and your MP3 player at the same time using the newest update to the A2DP protocol. As of now there aren’t any Bluetooth enabled iPods so an adapter will need to be purchased but expect that Bluetooth will be built in to most new MP3’s players just for the wireless headset capabilities alone and with the dual capabilities of this headset, it can only further develop wireless accessories.
Am I the only one that finds it odd that the iPod Touch doesn’t have Bluetooth built in? Was this strictly a price cutting measure or a deliberate attempt to not give the device any ‘phone’ features, so as to not anger the iPhone owners? I cant imagine the fanboys reaction would be all that favorable if the Touch could have Skype added and thus skirt all the network/subsidy lock issues of The Jesus Phone.
As for as I can find there is only one Bluetooth enabled MP3 player on the market and that is the Philips GoGear SA5245BT. I guess the industry is a little slow on this so lets this is a sign of things to come…and fast.
Samsung pushes its market share to 16%
Apr 25th
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. shipped over 46 million phones in Q1 to solidify itself as the world’s second best mobile phone manufacturer. The 33% increase in sales over Q1 2007, has pushed its market share to 16%.
All this while Motorola tumbled to a 9.4% share in the No. 3 spot. Motorola has yet to come up with an encore to its original RAZR and has just announced that losses have reached a shocking $194m as sales fell to a 4 year low. Now consider that the industry is expected to have at least 14% growth and the fact that LG is looking at solid gains and is now at 8.6% share and Motorola might want to start making large screen devices and realize the thin phone fad is over…..so really really over.
Sony Ericsson market share slipping
Apr 24th
Sony Ericsson’s net income dipped a whopping 48% to $212 million, while revenue was down 7% to about $4.3 billion. Average selling prices declined sharply to $192, from $213 a year-ago. The company said it held 8% global market share in the first quarter, down more than a point from the full year in 2007. This is a disappointment because everything is pointing to a double digit growth for the quarter which would indicate Sony Ericsson isn’t keeping pace with the market.
Many analysts are pointing to the fact that Sony Ericsson’s high end models have smaller screens time when larger displays are in great demand. Nokia is also falling into this same trap with few models that seem to be what the high end user is looking for.
Apple sells 1.7 million units
Apr 24th
Apple announced revenue of $7.5 billion and net profit over $1 billion in its 2nd fiscal quarter, with revenue beating expectations. This is what happens when you sell 10.6 million iPods, 2.3 million Macs, and 1.7 million iPhones — which the company said kept it on pace to reach its year-end goal of 10 million iPhones sold.
However the 1.7 million is down from the 2.315 million reported for the fiscal first quarter and some analysts have seen this as a possible trend of decreasing sales. Others believe the 3G iPhone will jumpstart sales again but news has been quiet on that front since Apple slapped around Mossberg.
AT&T Mobile has big 1st quarter
Apr 23rd
At&t Mobile has announced Q1 2008 numbers in which they added 1.295 million wireless customers, an 8.7% increase compared the first quarter of 2007. The numbers pushed the carrier’s customer base to more than 71.3 million subscribers. This is especially impressive considering they shut down their TDMA network and along with it 330,000 customers.
Churn remained at 1.7% per month during the quarter, however ARPU (avg revenue per unit) jumped 2% to $50.18 during the first quarter. This helped push revenues to $10.6 billion for the quarter. AT&T Mobility noted data services accounted for $2.3 billion, or 21.5%, of total service revenues. The strong growth nearly doubled it’s income from $1.5 billion during the first quarter of 2007 to $2.9 billion this year.
Nokia announces deal with Sony BMG
Apr 22nd
Nokia announced a new agreement with Sony BMG, in addition to adding two new handsets to its XpressMusic line. The leading wireless manufacturer explained that Sony BMG has joined its Comes With Music offering.
“This initiative represents a critical new way of gaining access to music, through which fans will be able to explore Sony BMG’s vast catalog of recordings for an entire year,†advised Sony BMG executive Thomas Hesse. “We think this business model will encourage users to sample a wide range of material, expand their musical tastes and listen to more music than ever before.â€
The two new handsets are the 5220 ($255) and the 5320 ($352) which are scheduled for release in the third quarter. They both have Symbian S60 2 Megapixel w/ autofocus Video recorder with QVGA resolution, EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0, and a 320×240 pixelsdisplay.
Samsung SGH-i900
Apr 16th
Samsung has seemingly leaked the info on a new smart phone called the SGH-i900 that will run Windows Mobile 6.1. Its seems to be the real deal with some serious specs but only time will tell if all of the rumors are true. No one is sure what this thing even looks like and Samsung doesn’t seem willing to confirm that they even make mobile phones so I guess the waiting game has begun. This looks to be a big year for Samsung and this will only help their rising stature in the mobile world.
The specs that may or may not be true:
GSM/GPRS/EDGE
UMTS/HSDPA
TV Out
Micro SDHC
Dimensions: 112 x 56 x 12.5mm
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and
WiFi
GPS
FM radio
The 3.5″ screen
240×400 display
5 megapixel camera
8 GB of memory
iPhone 2.0 beta: Screen caps
Apr 15th
The latest iPhone 2.0 beta firmware allows users to save web images to its running camera roll for later download to its host machine (or sharing via email). In addition the iPhone, with a flick of two buttons, (sleep & home) will be capable of taking full screen caps. Of course all of this is just in a testing phase and some bugs will no doubt need to be worked out, so there is no telling when these features might go live. Apple is staying in the news of late, perhaps this is leading into an announcement about a much sleeker and faster iPhone that will be capable of such advance things as picture messaging and the old copy and paste.
Windows Mobile 6.1
Apr 14th
Windows newest version of their mobile operating system is coming out of the gates charging with both AT&T’s Tilt and the Samsung Blackjack II as the first handhelds available with Windows Mobile 6.1. The Motorola Q9c, HTC Touch, HTC Mogul and the Samsung Ace are soon to follow. This continues the trend of always having a vast amount of devices to choose from, something that has set it apart from its rivals.
The ease of installation in both networking and Outlook Exchange alone make it a solid performer. If not for a somewhat sluggish interface and at times confusing layouts, this would have been a noticeable step forward but alas it isn’t perfect or even close. The next gen iPhone and the Android might be bringing some serious game so time will tell if the big boys in Renton left their guard down just a tad too long.
Full review
Mobile 6.1 page
Emergency sms system approved by FCC
Apr 11th
The FCC today approved plans to roll out a nationwide SMS-based alert system, which will soon become mandatory for all four national carriers and all the ‘baby bells’ as well. The FCC will appoint a federal agency tasked with creating the messages.
Those messages will be limited to one of three categories of emergencies, including disasters like a terrorist attack, ongoing threats like hurricanes or earthquakes, or child abductions or amber alerts. You can also opt out of the system if you don’t want to know about the massive tsunami approaching your plush beachfront cabin like some blogger I know.
